


Name one Hero who was Happy

by kair0s



Category: DCU, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Birdflash - Freeform, Bluepulse, Canon Divergence, Coming Out, F/M, Flashbacks, Hurt/Comfort, Issues of Sexuality, M/M, Multi, On-mode, PTSD, Polyamory, Spitfire - Freeform, on-mode blue beetle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-07-14 20:28:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7188956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kair0s/pseuds/kair0s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a hero is supposed to be the dream. Cool powers? Check. Fame and glory? Check. A team of friends and loved ones who will always have your back? Check, but keeping them around is the hard part.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Abort Mission

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first young justice fanfiction as well as my first fanfiction in a long time. I am planning on making this a multi-chapter fic, but I'm trying to decide if I'm going to do a long multi-chapter fic or a series of shorter multi-chapter fics. 
> 
> Anyways, here is my bluepulse fic, which I swear is actually about that pairing, despite what this chapter might make it seem like. Just hang in there and you'll soon be the proud new owner of all the angst and feels you can imagine. 
> 
> A/N: Rating and archive warnings are subject to change as I figure out what the hell I am doing.

The mission hadn’t gone well. 

That was an understatement, to be honest. Four teammates had been injured and everyone’s morale had taken a hit because of it. Wally had rejoined the team after Artemis’s death, mostly to give himself something to do. It was obvious that it helped him to be around his friends, especially Nightwing, but it was also plain to see that all of the superhero business reminded him of Artemis.

Because he was rusty and emotionally strained, no one was surprised when Kid Flash was the first casualty of the mission. However, no one had expected the second casualty to be Nightwing. Having been distracted trying to deal with Kid Flash’s injury, Nightwing himself had taken a hit. This had effectively left half of alpha squad down. Miss Martian took up the mantle of the mission with little hesitation, leading the rest of the squads with the other remaining member of alpha squad, Batgirl. 

The third casualty was on Beta squad, which was inconvenient with half of alpha squad down. Wonder Girl had issues maintaining stealth mode and was shot out of the sky shortly after Nightwing was hit. This led to the rest of her squad, which was made up of Robin, Lagoon Boy and Superboy, falling apart. Lagoon Boy and Superboy immediately started blaming each other for Wonder Girl’s injury. Robin, being a new leader, struggled to regain control of his squad.

The fourth and final casualty was on Delta squad. Blue Beetle lost control of his suit midflight and crashed, hard. Impulse was by his side in an instant, trying to pull him out of the fray. However, Blue Beetle  
regained control and insisted that he was fine and had to carry on, especially with the previous casualties.

It wasn’t long after Blue Beetle’s crash-landing that Nightwing declared _'Abort mission,'_ over the telepathic link. The team returned to base to find none other than Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the  
Flash waiting for them. The Flash and Wonder Woman went to Wally and Cassie, respectively, to check on their younger counterparts. Batman went to Dick, wordlessly telling Robin and Batgirl to follow. Superman was glaring down Superboy, already lecturing him on the importance of putting aside personal differences for the sake of the team. 

Impulse stood in front of the zeta tube he had returned by, counting himself lucky that he wasn’t currently being lectured by either Batman or Superman. When he spotted Blue Beetle, he ran up to him, still worried about his buddy. 

“Hey her-man-o,” he said with a horrible accent and a cheesy grin, “how are you holding up?”

Blue Beetle seemed to scowl, but it was hard to tell with the armor. “For the millionth time, Bart, I’m fine.”

Bart sank a little at his friend’s tone. “I was just worried about you. You weren’t even shot out of the sky, you just fell! Totally not crash.”

Blue Beetle sighed, retracting his armor and running his hand through his hair. “Listen, you know that everything isn’t always 100% between me and the scarab. Doesn’t mean he’d let anything happen to me though.”

“I guess I was just scared,” Bart said, pulling his goggles back. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

Something strange flashed in Jaime’s eyes, but it was gone as his face softened. “Don’t worry, hermano, I’m not going anywhere,” he said with a smile.

Bart’s signature grin was back as he said, “Crash.”

Jaime patted him on the shoulder before turning away from the newest speedster. Bart stared at Jaime’s back for a whole second or two, which was long for him, before reaching out and grabbing his arm. “Hey, can we talk? There’s something I want to tell you.”

Jaime turned around, surprise clear on his face. “Yeah, sure, ese.” 

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They stood in Bart’s room, since he lived at the base now. “So I know you say that you’re okay and that the scarab won’t ever let anything happen to you but still todaywasreallyscaryandIthoughtIwasgoingtoloseyou.” Bart said, speeding up out of nervousness as he spoke.

Jaime took a moment, probably letting the scarab translate the speedster’s speech for him. “Seriously, ese, you really don’t have to worry about me,” he said, forcing a smile.

Bart shook his head, brow furrowed as he looked at the ground. “That’s not the point,” he muttered. “I care about you, Jaime.”

Bart chanced a look up and caught Jaime’s gaze. The older boy was clearly confused, but still smiling. “I care about you too, hermano, you’re my best buddy,” he answered, only sounding a bit awkward, bless him.

“I know, and I’m glad,” Bart started, trying so hard not to chicken out. “But that’s not what I mean. I like you. Not like best buddies, I like you how Barry likes Iris and how Wally will probably always like Artemis.”

Jaime didn’t look away, but he didn’t say anything either.

“I know that you might not feel the same way and even though there have been moments where I thought you might feel the same way, I haven’t asked because I didn’t want to screw up our friendship,” Bart rambled on, because everything was coming out now. “But today scared me so much, because I thought you were going to die and I thought I was going to lose you and that was so not crash but the most moded part of it all was that you wouldn’t have even known how I feel about you.”

Jaime didn’t say anything at first, but his mouth had formed into a tight line. “I’m sorry, Bart,” he started, slowly, “but I just don’t like guys like that.”

Bart deflated. He wanted to look away so badly, but his eyes were glued to Jaime’s, even as they filled with tears. “I-I’m so sorry,” he managed to whisper.

Jaime shook his head. “Bart, this doesn’t mean we’re not friends anymore,” he said, stepping forward and putting his hands on Bart’s shoulders. “I don’t care if you’re gay, but I’m not, and I care about you enough to understand that if you need space, I’ll give you that.”

Bart felt himself lean into Jaime’s touch, but he pulled back, shaking his head and wiping his eyes. “I don’t want you to go away,” he said softly, looking at the floor.

“I’ll do whatever you want, but I think you might need time to get over this,” Jaime said carefully. “Whether that time is a few days, a few weeks, or…or longer, take whatever you need, ok?”

Bart nodded slowly, still unable to look at his friend. Even though he said he didn’t care how Bart felt about him, he was getting the message loud and clear. _'He doesn’t want me to be around him anymore, he’s just too nice to say it.'_

“I’ll see you later, hermano,” Jaime said with a forced smile before leaving Bart alone in his room.

“Right,” Bart said softly. _'Abort mission.'_

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	2. A Week Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bart needs answers, so he runs to El Paso. Turns out there are more questions than answers in Jaime's hometown. Well, except for one very important answer.

A week after Bart’s confession, he and Jaime still haven’t spoken. They’ve barely seen each other and they haven’t even been on the same squad since the aborted mission. Bart’s not sure if that’s a coincidence or if Jaime asked Dick to keep them apart. He tried not to think about it too much.

What he did think about was that a week was enough. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Jaime didn’t want anything to do with him anymore, but he was trying to believe what his friend had said. 

_‘Bart, this doesn’t mean we’re not friends anymore,’_

_‘I’ll do whatever you want, but I think you might need time to get over this,’_

Those sentences, along with others from their last exchange, had been echoing in his mind for the past week. It’s not like he had forgotten Jaime’s promises, it just didn’t feel like Jaime had meant them. Still, Bart kept trying to convince himself that he was overreacting, that he needed to get out of his head. He trusted Jaime, he had since the moment he met him. Which was terrifying, considering the version of Jaime that Bart knew in the future.

Bart shook his head. Enough was enough. He had been going in circles about this for a week now and he decided that the only way to feel better was to go and clear the air with Jaime. He was ready to have his friend back.

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It didn’t take Bart long to run to Jaime’s house in El Paso. He knocked on the door, trying to settle the nervousness fluttering in his stomach. He flashed his signature cheeseball grin when the door opened.

“Hi Mrs. Reyes! Is Jaime home?” he asked Jaime’s mother, who had opened the door. 

His grin faltered when he noticed the shape Mrs. Reyes was in. At the mention of her son, she sniffled, obviously holding back tears. She had dark bags under her eyes and her hair was all over the place. “Mrs. Reyes, are you okay?” Bart asked.

She shook her head, turning back to look in the house. “Tye, can you come here? It’s Jaime’s friend, Bart.”

Tye came over and helped Mrs. Reyes out of the doorway before stepping outside. “You’re looking for Jaime?” he asked.

Bart nodded.

Tye sighed. “Let’s go for a walk.”

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“What do you mean you haven’t seen Jaime in almost a week?! Aren’t you guys like best friends?” Bart exclaimed.

Tye stuffed his hands in his pocket and kicked a rock down the road. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, but it turns out there’s a lot about Jaime I didn’t know.” He looked pointedly at Bart.

“What did he tell you?” 

“He didn’t tell me anything, actually. I only came home because his mother called me in tears a few nights ago.” Tye went on to explain what happened to him and the other runaways, which Bart kind of already knew, but he let him talk. “Jaime’s mom said that he came home about a week ago, told her that he was Blue Beetle and that he had to help protect the world.”

“Now, Mrs. Reyes is a smart woman. She has good intuition, like most moms do, and she knew that Jaime had fallen in with the wrong sort of people,” Tye said. “Which makes me wonder what your deal is.”

“Jaime is not with the wrong people,” Bart explained. “Or at least, he wasn’t. I’m not sure anymore. I’m not the wrong people, you have to believe that. I’m with the Justice League. And so is Jaime.”

“See that’s the thing, he told his mom that he was with the Reach,” Tye said with a scowl. 

Bart’s eyes widened. “No, no no nononononono.” 

Tye crossed his arms. “Care to fill me in? The Reach is shady as hell and they’re hardly my friends after they abducted me and experimented on me.”

Bart sat down on the ground, pulling his knees into his chest. “Yeah, I’ll fill you in.”

He told Tye everything. He told him he was Impulse and explained that he was from the future. He explained why he came back, how it had started as a mission to save Flash, but it had always been about stopping Blue Beetle and the Reach. Blue had always been his mission, and that’s what he told Tye.

“So what is Jaime to you then? Did you come back just to kill him before he could burn the world to the ground?” Tye asked, now sitting on the ground across from Bart. 

“I’m not an assassin,” Bart said. “I came back to prevent the Reach Apocalypse, but that never necessarily meant killing Jaime. The moment I met him I knew that I had to protect him. That’s why I didn’t tell the rest of the team or the league what I knew about Blue Beetle in the future. I was afraid they’d think it was safer to just kill him.”

“You risked all of that just to keep him alive?” 

Bart nodded. “But after I told Jaime the truth, he fessed up to the league and told them all of it. They’re not going to kill him, but now they know that this betrayal is something to look out for.”

“You really care about him, don’t you?” Tye asked.

“Yeah,” Bart answered. “He’s my best friend, but I think I screwed all of that up. That’s why I came here today, actually. I wanted to talk to him.”

“About what?” Tye asked. 

“We went on this mission, and Jaime got hurt. Something happened with the scarab, and his armor, and he just fell out of the sky and crashed. And not the good kind of crash.” Bart sighed. “I thought I was going to lose him, and it really freaked me out. I don’t know how long I’ve had feelings for him, but that’s when I decided that I had to tell him. I couldn’t stand the thought of him dying without knowing how I felt.”

“So you told him you love him?”

Bart nearly fell over. “L-love is a strong word,” he said, ignoring the way Tye rolled his eyes at him, “but yeah, I told him how I felt.”

“And?”

“And he shot me down,” Bart said, staring at the ground. “He was really nice about it, told me we could still be friends, said it was just because he didn’t like guys, told me he would give me whatever space I needed, but—”

“He said he didn’t like guys?” Tye interrupted.

“Yeah, which I guess isn’t that surprising, but I could’ve sworn there were some moments with him where I thought—”

“Jaime’s gay,” Tye interrupted again. “Well, actually, he might be bi, but still.”

Bart just blinked. Once. Twice. “Say what?”

“I have it on very good authority that Jaime does in fact like guys,” Tye explained.

“And what authority is that?” Bart asked incredulously.

“Um, he told me himself?” Tye said somewhat awkwardly. 

“When? Why? How? What did—” 

“Yo, stay with me, man,” Tye said, cutting off Bart’s probably endless stream of questions. “A few years back he told me he liked me.”

“Oh.”

Tye actually cracked a smile. “Yeah, well, unlike him, and you apparently, I do not like guys.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, we’ve been friends for so many years, we just agreed to keep doing that and eventually he got over it,” Tye answered. 

“Right,” Bart said slowly, “but what happened with him liking guys? Why doesn’t he anymore?”

“That’s the thing,” Tye said, brow furrowing, “I’m pretty damn sure that he still does.”

“Then why would he say he doesn’t? Why would he intentionally push me away like that for no reason?” Bart wondered aloud. But then, all of the pieces started to click together. Jaime’s suit failing him in the middle of a mission, telling Mrs. Reyes that he was working with the Reach, pushing Bart away. In fact, every little thing that had seemed off about Jaime lately came rushing back to Bart in that moment. That’s why his words felt so insincere, why even though Jaime said he still wanted to be friends with Bart, it didn’t feel like he meant it. That’s why he said he didn’t like guys.

“Because it’s not him,” Bart realized.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah the second chapter is up pretty quick because I have the first few planned. In fact, what I had planned originally for the first chapter is turning out way longer than I thought it would be and is actually going to the span the first three chapters basically.
> 
> Please leave comments, because this is very much a work in progress and I would love to have some input to help me as I write this story.


	3. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A heart-to-heart between Speedsters benefits the whole team. In fact, Bart has had quite a few heart-to-hearts, but they might just be making him feel worse.

“Blue Beetle’s on-mode!” Bart exclaimed as he raced into the base. 

Nightwing, Kid Flash, Robin, and Miss Martian all turned to face him. Bart saw shock and horror on the domino-clad faces of the present Bat-brats. Kid Flash just looked irritated, which was pretty typical of him nowadays, while Miss Martian looked…guilty?

“That’s a pretty serious claim,” Nightwing said, keeping his cool, like always. “What evidence do you have?” 

“I went to Blue’s house in El Paso because, um, reasons,” Bart said, racing through his words as usual, “and his mom said that he hasn’t been home in a week because he’s been working with the Reach.”

Nightwing scowled, looking at Robin and Kid Flash before turning back to Bart. “That’s definitely something we’ll need to look into, but he has been working with us during this past week—”

“—and we haven’t seen him work with the Reach yet,” Robin added. “What else do you have?”

Bart shuffled awkwardly for a moment, unsure of how or if to divulge the more personal reasons that were unfortunately intertwined with the rest of his proof. Just when he was about to ask 

Nightwing if they could speak in private, Miss Martian came to his rescue.

“He’s probably right,” she said, drawing the attention of the other heroes. 

“What makes you say that? Did you read his mind, or Blue Beetle’s mind?” Kid Flash asked.

Miss Martian winced and shook her head. “No, it’s something else, I…” she trailed off, looking at the ground before looking up again and meeting Nightwing’s gaze. “I messed up,” she admitted.

Nightwing looked between Miss Martian and Kid Flash, obviously playing leader and deciding who needed to do what now. “M’gann, go talk things over with KF and Robin,” he instructed. “I need to talk to Impulse.”

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“You have other evidence.” It was a question, not a statement.

Bart twiddled his thumbs at about 35mph. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Care to share?” Nightwing prompted. 

Bart looked around the room, taking in the couch he was sitting on and the adjacent one that  
Nightwing was occupying. “Isn’t this where therapy with Dinah—I mean Black Canary—happens? That’s pretty crash, but I don’t think I need—”

“Bart,” Nightwing interrupted. “Can we stay on task? It’s kind of important.”

“What if I don’t want to stay on task?” Bart said, his eyes glued to the coffee table and his tone quietly defiant.

Nightwing scowled. “Listen Bart, if what you say is true and Blue Beetle is really on-mode, you need to tell us everything you know. Don’t you want to help him?”

“Of course I want to help him, I—” Bart cuts off his own outburst, unable to continue when he looks up at Nightwing. “Listen, Dick, I just really can’t talk about it. You just have to believe me.”

“It’s Nightwing,” Dick said, standing up and walking past Bart. He patted him on the shoulder before he left the room. 

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“Let’s switch.”

Kid Flash looked up from the quadruple-decker PB&J he was making to stare at Nightwing. 

“What?” he managed to spit out around the heaps of peanut butter in his mouth.

“I’m going to talk to M’gann,” Nightwing explained, “and you’re going to go talk to your cousin.”

“No way,” Kid Flash said, pausing to chug a glass of milk. “For so many reasons. One, he’s my cousins, once removed, everyone keeps forgetting the ‘removed’ part.”

Nightwing rolled his eyes.

“B, he’s annoying. And that’s coming from me.” Somehow he had managed to eat his entire sandwich in between his first two points.

“Thirdly,” he held up a finger as he drank another glass of milk. “What makes you think he’ll listen to me?”

“Because I think I have an idea of what’s going on, and if it’s what I think it is, we both understand what he’s going through,” Nightwing explained, looking pointedly at Kid Flash. “And I already tried, so it’s your turn,” he finished with a grin.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kid Flash muttered, “and I doubt you really tried all that hard.”

“Count yourself lucky,” Nightwing said as he began to leave the kitchen, “you don’t have go and have a ‘leader talk’ with M’gann.”

“Dick,” Kid Flash said, suddenly serious. “She wasn’t exaggerating, she really messed up. She did something really bad a little while back to Aqualad and it’s all kind of…spiraled from there.”

“Do you think she knows? About the cover mission, and…Tigress?”

“I don’t see how she couldn’t,” Kid Flash answered. “Just go talk to her, it’ll make more sense once she explains it. I think she’ll feel better too if she talks to you. She’s beating herself up pretty badly.”

Nightwing nodded. “Thanks, Wally.”

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“You’re still in here?” Wally sounded surprised when he found Bart still on the couch where he had spoken to Dick. 

“Where would I have gone?” Bart asked, sitting cross-legged on the couch. “And why do you care?”

“I’ve never seen you stay in one place this long,” Wally commented. “Nightwing sent me to talk to you.”

“And you decided to look somewhere you didn’t expect me to be?”

Wally shrugged, sitting down on the other couch. “Just because he sent me, doesn’t mean I want to talk to you.”

“Fair enough,” Bart said.

“Nightwing seems to think you’ll be able to talk to me about whatever is going on with you and the rest of the evidence you have about Blue,” Wally explained, only sounding half-invested.

“I don’t know where he got that idea,” Bart muttered. “You’d understand even less than Nightwing would, I think.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you have Artemis,” Bart said without thinking first. “I’m sorry, you had Artemis. I’m a jerk.”

Wally was quiet for a bit. “What does Artemis have to do with this?”

“Nothing, that’s the point,” Bart said, curling in on himself more. 

“No,” Wally started, “you wouldn’t just bring up my dead girlfriend for no reason. Even you have more tact than that.”

Bart looked up, trying to get a better read Wally and trying to find the courage to roll over into a fetal position. “Anything I say about her is going to sound totally moded because she’s dead.”

Wally shrugged. “Try me.”

“I didn’t know you guys before you were together,” Bart started. “In fact, I barely knew her at all. But I’ve talked to Gar a lot, and he’s talked to M’gann, so I’ve heard a lot about the two of you. You guys really had something special, and I’m sure you worked hard to get there, but because of who you are and who she is, I don’t think you’ll understand what I’m dealing with. Like, you two are compatible and I don’t think you were every rejected by her how I was—”

“Please, Artemis rejected me plenty,” Wally interrupted. Then he paused, looking at Bart closely. “Oh, you mean because we’re a ‘straight’ couple.”

Bart’s face was as red as Wally’s hair. 

“Dick can be such an ass, I swear,” Wally muttered.

That made Bart look up and smile. “Or, ya know, a Dick.”

“Yeah,” Wally agreed before clearing his throat. “Um, so I might understand a bit more than you think.”

“Yeah?” Bart asked, his face returning to its normal color.

Wally nodded. “Dick and I are, well, it’s complicated, but not in a bad way, usually anyways.”

“But what about Artemis?”

Wally let out a frustrated noise. “Look, I said it was complicated. Let’s just focus on what you’re dealing with, ok?”

Bart nodded, pulling his knees up against his chest.

Wally sighed. “I didn’t expect you to be embarrassed about stuff like this. Or about anything, really.”

“I’m not embarrassed about being gay,” Bart explained. “I guess I’m embarrassed about being rejected? But I shouldn’t be, because now I know that it wasn’t really Jaime, but it still hurt, and I feel dumb for failing him and upset that ImightlosehimafterallandI—”

“Slow down, you’re losing me,” Wally interrupted. “What does all this have to do with how you know Blue’s on-mode?”

“After that totally not-crash mission, I got worried because Blue got hurt. So I decided to confess and he shot me down. He said he didn’t like guys and it sucked, but then we didn’t talk for a week, and that sucked more. I went to his house to apologize and found out from his best friend, Tye, one of the runaways, that Jaime does in fact like guys. That’s when I began to realize that a lot of other things, little things, about Jaime from the last week or so didn’t quite add up. But this detail, this one thing that the Reach overlooked, I guess, is what tipped me off.”

“Now that makes sense,” Wally said. “Alright, I’m gonna go talk to Dick so he can come up with a plan.”

Bart nodded, leaning back on the couch. 

“Thanks, Bart,” Wally said before he left.

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Bart must’ve fallen asleep on the couch, because the next thing he knew, he was rolling over to face M’gann who was sitting where Wally had been. “What’s up, Miss M?”

She was wringing her hands and staring at him with sad, amber eyes. “I’m so sorry, Bart, this is all my fault.”

Bart frowned, still groggy from his unplanned nap. “Well that’s not true, it’s the Reach who put Jaime on-mode.”

M’gann shook her head. “Green Beetle did this for him. I should have known, but I was afraid to truly use my powers when I was searching his mind.” She stared down at her hands. “I-I misused my powers. Many times, but when I hurt Aqua—” She stopped, staring at Bart with wide eyes. “I hurt a friend, and it made me afraid to use my powers. If I hadn’t done that, I would’ve seen Green Beetle’s true intentions and he wouldn’t have had a chance to put Jaime on-mode.”

“S’okay, M’gann,” Bart said, rolling onto his back with a yawn. “People hurt each other, even friends.”

“Friends seem to hurt each other the most,” M’gann said after a moment. “Or at least the worst.”

Bart decided that pretending to be asleep was easier than saying anything to that.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's another chapter. Lots of talking again, but I wanted to lay the groundwork for the whole Dick-Wally-Artemis dynamic. It's a bit tough to get into while everyone thinks she's dead :/
> 
> Anyways, the next chapter should be up soon. Please leave comments, I'd love to hear any feedback!


	4. Self[ish] Awareness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaime screams internally, Dick mentors Bart, and a recon mission goes south.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been living in Bart's POV for the majority (or the entirety) of this fic so far, so here's a peek into Jaime's mind. Which is pretty crowded, with the Reach and the Scarab and all that jazz. 
> 
> Also, more talk about Birdflash! I might do some spin-off oneshots of the Birdflash stuff that's happening in the background of this fic. Let me know if that's something you guys would read!

“Blue Beetle, you’ve worked with both the Justice League and the Reach now,” the reporter prompted, far too cheery for anyone discussing the Reach. “What do you think about these two organizations? Which one really has the Earth’s best interests at heart?”

_‘The Justice League, hands down,’_ Jaime thought. “Well, I never worked with the Justice League, per say,” Reach-puppet Blue Beetle said with a plastic smile. “As you recall, the Justice League had a secret team of underage superheroes. That’s what I was a part of, very briefly.” _‘Great, don’t waste any time, just drag them through the mud at any given chance.’_ Jaime thought bitterly.

“Right, of course,” the reported said with a solemn nod. “We all know that the Justice League has withheld a startling amount of information from us. Do you think we should fear anything of that sort in regards to our new allies, the Reach?”

_‘YES.’_ “Not in a million years,” he said, still flashing that plastic grin. _‘…Can I leave yet?’_

“Well Blue Beetle, thanks for clearing that up,” the reporter said with a smile. “You really are a class act.”

“I’m just doing my job, ma’am,” Blue Beetle said, waving to the cameras and the crowd. _‘Since when do I say ma’am?!’_

_‘You say whatever we want you to say,’_ the Reach’s voice spoke in Jaime’s mind. _‘You live to serve the Reach now, Blue Beetle.’_

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This is just a recon mission, Bart kept reminding himself as he was perched on the edge of a rooftop, watching Blue Beetle talk to some reporter. Bart almost fell off the roof when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” Nightwing gave him a well-meaning smile. “I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing. I know this must be hard for you, seeing him…like this.”

“Thanks,” Bart said quietly. “It’s not him.”

“I know.”

Bart sighed. “Sorry, I keep saying that to people and I’m really just reminding myself. I’m not trying to be a jerk about this.”

Nightwing sat down on the ledge next to him, his back facing the street and his feet planted firmly on the rooftop. Basically the opposite of how Bart had his feet dangling over the city, swinging back and forth. “It’s okay, this hits close to home for you, I think everyone understands that.”

“I think I still owe you an apology,” Bart said, still staring at Blue Beetle. “I should’ve just talked to you when I realized he was on-mode. Wally shouldn’t have had to drag all of that out of me.”

“It’s okay, you were just embarrassed and—”

“That’s the thing though, I’m not embarrassed,” Bart interrupted. “I’m feeling a lot of things, but embarrassed isn’t one of them. I don’t care that I’m gay. Sexuality and romance isn’t something that got a lot of attention where I’m from.”

Nightwing frowned a little, but let the speedster continue.

“I’m obviously upset that Blue’s on-mode,” Bart explained. “I came back to stop that and I failed. I know it’s not over, but for the time being, I’ve failed him. But what’s even more upsetting is that I’m actually kind of glad.”

“Glad about what?” Nightwing’s tone was confused, but not judgmental.

“Well, because it’s not really Jaime, it means that I still stand a chance,” Bart said, looking down at his feet. “He rejected me, but it wasn’t him, so it doesn’t count. And I’m glad about that. But that’s not crash at all. I feel horrible for feeling that way.”

“I think it means a lot that you’re beating yourself up over feeling that way,” Nightwing said slowly. “I’m not saying you _should_ be beating yourself up over it, but the fact that you are indicates a level of self-awareness that will help you a lot.”

“So knowing that I’m a shitty person makes it okay?” 

Nightwing rolled his eyes. “You know that not what I mean.”

“What do you mean then, because I’m kind of lost.”

“What I mean is you usually can’t change your feelings,” Nightwing answered. “What you can do is be aware of them and think about how they’ll affect your actions and choices. Do you remember that mission that the whole team had to abort the other week?”

“Of course,” Bart said with a nod.

“The failure of that mission was not the fault of any single person, but it definitely hinged on a few people and their actions,” Nightwing explained.

“Are you blaming Kid Flash for getting hurt?” Bart asked doubtfully.

“Not at all. It was one of his first missions in a long time. I blame myself for getting tunnel-vision because he was injured,” Dick explained. “If I had maintained focus, I wouldn’t have been injured. Now, it’s not all my fault, because the other squad fell apart after Wonder Girl’s injury. And that’s not Wonder Girl’s fault. That’s the fault of Superboy and Lagoon Boy and their personal issues. It’s also a little bit Robin’s fault for not keeping his squad focused. Robin might have been affected by my injury.”

“Which brings it back to you,” Bart said, not really thinking. “Not that I blame you!”

Nightwing smiled gently. “It’s fine, Bart. I blame myself for a lot of that mission’s failure. So does Batman. I’m sure you noticed how he pulled me and Robin and Batgirl aside after the mission. Batman was obviously less than pleased, but he did help me realize something I was lacking on that mission, and in general.”

“And that is?”

“Self-awareness. If I had been more aware of my feelings regarding Kid Flash, I wouldn’t have been so caught off-guard when he was injured. Maybe then I wouldn’t have dropped everything to care for him in the middle of a mission,” Dick said. “Or maybe I still would have. The point is, what I did on that mission was pretty selfish.”

“How was taking care of Wal—Kid Flash—selfish?” Bart asked.

“Taking care of him wasn’t selfish,” Dick explained, “but abandoning my duties as leader of the team was. The difference between my situation and yours, however, is that I acted. You’re only feeling selfish, or shitty, as you so eloquently put it, over something that you’ve thought and felt.”

Bart looked over at Nightwing. “So what’re you saying?”

Nightwing sighed. “I’m saying that you’re not wrong for being hopeful, but it’s good that you’re being aware of your feelings. Relationships make everything more complicated, especially on a team like this. But they make everything so much better, too.”

Bart nodded, his eyes making their way back to where Blue Beetle had been talking to the reporter. He wasn’t there anymore.

Nightwing stood up, noticing the same thing as Bart. “Beta squad, do you have eyes on Blue Beetle?” he asked over the comms. “Beat squad, do you read me? Come in, Beta squad!”  
Nothing but static. 

“I’m going to check on them,” Nightwing said, walking to the other side of the roof and getting ready to jump off. “Stay here and try to regain visual.”

Bart nodded, standing up and trying to feel ready for…well, anything.

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‘ _5 enemies have been located in various stations around us,’_ the Scarab reported as Jaime finished speaking with the reporter. ‘ _Recommended course of action is divert and attack._ ’ 

Jaime watched helplessly as the Reach made him fly between rows of buildings, searching for his former teammates while trying to evade them. ‘ _3 of their members, their ‘Beta squad,’ have been adequately occupied by Green Beetle,_ ’ the Reach reported. ‘ _Their leader, Nightwing, is on his way to assist them while the Impulse remains stationed above._ ’

Blue Beetle’s wings expanded and he took flight, heading towards the rooftop that Bart was stationed on, alone. ‘ _No, no no no,_ ’ Jaime thought. ‘ _Haven’t we done enough to him?_

‘ _He is a threat and must be eliminated,_ ’ the Scarab explained. 

‘ _Or at least toyed with,_ the Reach added. ‘ _We are aware of your...loyalties to the Impulse. Perhaps you will be more easily broken after you eliminate him._

Jaime wanted to scream when he landed on the rooftop and saw Bart looking out over the city streets. For the first time since he been put on-mode, he truly wanted to not be aware of his actions. And he felt horribly selfish and cowardly for wanting that.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know that Bart and Jaime haven't actually interacted for a few chapters now, but I swear this cliffhanger is leading to some super-angsty interactions between them. 
> 
> The next chapter should be out soon, because I've already started it. Please comment, I love hearing from you guys!


	5. Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bart finally encounters on-mode Blue Beetle, Dick loses someone, and M'gann just tries to help.

The scraping sound of Blue Beetle’s scythes dragging across the ground caused Impulse to whip around and face Blue Beetle. 

“Blue,” Impulse said, holding his hands up in front of him. “What’s going on?”

“Bart?” Blue Beetle stopped, holding up his scythes and looking down at them as they changed back into hands.

“Jaime!” Impulse exclaimed. “I know you’re still in there.”

“I-I am,” Blue Beetle said, still staring at his hands. “I think I’m getting some control back!”

‘ _No! He’s lying!_ ’ Jaime tried to scream. ‘ _Bart, don’t listen, please!_ ’

‘ _The Impulse cannot hear you,_ ’ the Scarab informed Jaime, actually sounding upset about it.

Bart took a few steps closer to Jaime, hope evident on his face. “That’s great, Blue, just keep fighting them, ok?”

“I’m trying,” Reach-puppet Jaime put on a good show of sounding like frustrated. “I don’t think I’m strong enough.”

“Don’t give up, Blue,” Bart said, closing the distance between them and placing his hands on Jaime’s shoulders. “I’m right here.”

Blue Beetle finally looked up at Bart, “Good,” he said, his tone changing suddenly. His expression, followed, changing from tired, scared eyes to a menacing smile. 

Bart was so shocked by Blue’s sudden change in demeanor that he almost didn’t register the blaster mere inches from his stomach, charging to shoot.

‘ _Bart, no! MOVE!_ ’ Jaime pleaded.

The blast sent Bart flying across the rooftop. He landed on his back, not far from the edge of the rooftop. “Jaime, no…”

Blue Beetle sauntered towards Bart, his hands changing into scythes again. ‘ _Run, Bart, get the hell out of here already!_ ’ He stopped in front of Bart.

“Poor little slave,” Blue Beetle said, reaching towards Bart’s face with one of his scythes. “You came all the way from the future to stop us and you’ve failed.”

Bart glared defiantly at Blue Beetle. “I haven’t failed yet, I can still save him!”

Blue Beetle laughed a cold, empty laugh. “How naïve,” he said, caressing Bart’s face with his blade, leaving a thin line of blood on the speedster’s cheek. “Your friend is gone.”

“What?” Bart’s face was pale as a sheet. 

‘ _Stop lying to him!_ ' Jaime screamed. ‘Bart, I’m still here, and I’m so sorry.’

“His body is still here, serving the Reach, but nothing else of him remains,” Blue Beetle explained coolly, dragging his blade down Bart’s other cheek before bringing his blades together in an 'X' at the base of his throat. “Much like there will be nothing of remaining of you when I’m done here.”

Suddenly, Blue Beetle crumpled to the ground like a tent collapsing. 

Bart didn’t move, stunned into stillness despite his whole body shaking. He saw a batarang—no, a birdarang—sticking out of the back of Blue Beetle’s armor, right in the center of the Scarab.

Nightwing was running towards him with Beast Boy by his side and Miss Martian flying overhead. “Impulse, come on, that won’t keep him down for long!” Nightwing called.

Bart tried to will himself to move, but he stayed frozen on the ground. Luckily Miss Martian swooped in and scooped him up, flying away with him in her arms. Bart couldn’t even find it in him to be embarrassed about having to be carried out of a mission. He had just started to feel the pain in his stomach from the blaster shot and it _hurt_ like hell. His cheeks stung, too, which he realized was from tears rolling over the cuts on his face. He had no clue when he had started crying.

Beast Boy turned into an albatross and Sphere flew into and picked up Nightwing. One of the guys, maybe Beast Boy, was saying something to Bart, but it just sounded like static to him. It wasn’t until he met Miss Martian’s gaze that he could actually make out anyone’s words.

“Bart,” she said softly, looking down at him as she flew. “Jaime is still in there, the Reach lied to you.”

Bart scrunched his eyes shut, trying to repress the sobs that were beginning to wrack his body as tears streamed down his face. 

“Please, listen to me, Bart,” Miss Martian pleaded, reaching out and trying to soothe Bart telepathically. ‘ _It was the Reach lying to you when Blue Beetle said he was regaining control. That was all an act to get you to put your guard down,_ ’ she explained, ‘ _but they were also lying when they said that Jaime was gone. He’s still in there, I could feel his mind when I reached out to both of you. I could feel his presence on that roof just like I can feel your presence in my arms right now._ ’

Bart felt himself nodding slowly, but his eyes were still shut. He had no desire to open them and felt himself drifting off, his last thought being a ‘thank-you’ to M’gann for whatever she was doing in his head.

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Jaime felt empty when Blue Beetle finally stirred and got up. He barely registered the Reach instructing his body to go and find Green Beetle and determine how Beta Squad had been able to recover and return with Nightwing. He didn’t say—or think—anything when the Scarab reported that there had been 5 enemies at the start and only 4 had escaped. 

' _Jaime Reyes,_ ' the Scarab said, sounding almost gentle. _The injuries sustained by the Impulse are not life-threatening and he should—”_

' _Khaji Da, that's enough,_ ' The voice of the Reach spoke tersely. _Green Beetle was able to secure one of the enemies, Robin, who seems to be some sort of fledgling to the leader, Nightwing. See to it that this Robin makes it back to our base._ '

Blue Beetle took off without another thought from either the Scarab or Jaime.

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Back at the base, M’gann accompanied Bart as he was treated in the med bay and then sent to speak with Black Canary. M’gann didn’t say much, but she spoke for Bart whenever she could so that he wasn’t forced to answer a bombardment of questions. 

Nightwing had gone off to call Batman as soon as his feet touched the ground. Wally was by his side almost immediately, draping his arm over Dick’s shoulder as they spoke in intense whispers.

Bart wondered absently if Robin’s capture was his fault, or Blue’s, in any way. He was shaken out of that train of thought when he realized that M’gann and Black Canary were both waiting for him to say something.

“I’m sorry, what was the question?” he asked tiredly.

“I asked if there was anything in particular you wanted to talk about?” Black Canary asked patiently. 

Bart looked at M’gann, who was sitting on the couch next to him. “You looked in my mind to see what happened, right?”

M’gann flinched, immediately looking apologetic. “I’m sorry, I had to because you weren’t talking and the doctors needed to know—”

“It’s fine, I wanted you to,” Bart interrupted, shaking his head. “I’m not exactly dying to relive it just yet, could you pass the memories along to Black Canary?”

M’gann nodded and Bart sat silently as the women had their telepathic exchange. ¬

Black Canary looked at Bart for a moment, probably considering where to start. “Bart, what are you thinking about right now? Is the physical trauma currently hurting you more, or are you struck mainly by the deceit and emotional trauma?”

Bart stared at his feet. “My injuries are already starting to heal,” he said, speaking a lot more slowly than he normally did. “I keep wondering if it’s my fault, or Jaime’s, that Robin was captured.”

M’gann put a hand on Bart’s knee. “Your advanced metabolism is helping you injuries to heal quickly, but you’re still hurt.”

“M’gann is right,” Black Canary said. “You’re still in physical pain, but you might not be feeling it because of the painkillers the doctors gave you or because of lingering shock from your encounter with Blue Beetle.”

Bart brought his hand up to his face, tracing the scars that were already forming on his cheeks. “Okay, but what about Robin? I feel like it’s my fault he was captured. If I had been helping Nightwing instead of on the roof with Blue, maybe I could’ve done something.”

“Green Beetle was gone with Robin before Nightwing got to me and Gar,” M’gann explained. “So if anyone’s at fault for Robin, I’m more to blame than you are.”

“But no one wins in the blame game, so let’s move on from that,” Black Canary said. “Is there anything you’d like to talk about, Bart?”

“I’m not sure what you want me to say,” Bart said quietly.

M’gann furrowed her brow, shooting Black Canary a concerned look.

“There’s nothing in particular that I want you to say, Bart,” Black Canary explained carefully. “But you just had a fairly traumatic encounter and it might be good to address some of the things you’re feeling.”

Bart nodded. “I feel like I failed him. Even though I know it was a lie and that Jaime’s still in there, I still feel like I let him down. I was supposed to keep him off-mode and I failed.”

Black Canary nodded, waiting to see if he’d say more.

“I came back to stop Blue Beetle from joining the Reach and taking over the world and now he’s under their control. Blue was my mission, and I failed,” Bart said, pulling his knees up against his chest.

“There’s still time to save Jaime. Your mission isn’t over, Bart,” M’gann said gently.

“No, that’s the thing,” Bart shook his head. “My mission should’ve ended the moment I knew Blue was on-mode. I should’ve killed him”

When no one said something for a few moments, Bart looked between the two women. “So what now?”

Black Canary pursed her lips. “That’s enough for today, I think. M’gann, can you—”

M’gann nodded. She must have said something telepathically to Black Canary, because the older woman left the room without another word. M’gann produced a tissue from somewhere and was wiping something off of Bart’s face. Blood? Maybe the cuts had reopened. 

No, it was just tears. Bart had started crying, but again, he had no clue when.

"Bart, do you want to be alone right now?" M'gann asked.

"Yeah," Bart lied, staring at the floor. He didn't care if she knew he was lying. He didn't want to be alone, but she wasn't who he wanted to be with.

But he couldn't exactly be with Jaime now, could he?

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there's some more angst for you. As usual, comments are appreciated.


	6. I Don't Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally doesn't really know what to say to anyone anymore.

Dick threw the dumbbell across the gym, not even flinching when it knocked over, and probably broke, a pile of equipment on the other side of the room. He got a running start before jumping into the air and landing on the balance beam, still moving. He didn’t stop moving, not until he heard the sound of the door opening. 

“Wally, I really appreciate your company, but I just want to be alone right now,” Dick said, slipping down to a seated position on the beam.

“I’ll be sure to pass that along to Mr. West.”

Dick whipped his head around at the sound of Bruce’s voice. “I’m sorry,” was all the eldest Robin could muster.

“Sorry for what? Tim getting kidnapped, or mistaking me for your boyfriend?” Batman asked, his face as stoic as ever.

“You know he’s not my boyfriend,” Dick said, carefully rolling onto the ground. “And you know that I’m sorry about Tim. I feel _horrible_ about Tim.”

Bruce walked over to his first ward. “Don’t let your guilt interfere with your ability to rescue him,” he warned.

“You think I don’t know that?” Dick snapped. He froze a moment later, realizing he had just snapped at ‘The Batman.’

“No,” Bruce said, his tone betraying no reaction to Dick’s outburst, “I think that you have a lot on your plate. As a brother, a friend, a mentor, a leader.”

“I’ve been leader of this team for over a year now,” Dick said.

“And the team has more than doubled in that time,” Bruce replied. “I know you were thrown into this position, even if it’s one you’ve been waiting for, but it’s okay to feel overwhelmed.”

“I like to think of myself as just whelmed,” Dick said, toweling himself off. 

Bruce’s mouth formed a tight line. “Dick, just…don’t push yourself too hard. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help every once in a while.”

Dick opened his mouth to say something back, but Bruce was already gone. He let himself fall to the ground, sitting on the cold floor and absentmindedly stretching from his workout.

_WOOSH._

Dick looked up, blue meeting green as he held his best friend’s gaze. “Did you know Bats thinks we’re dating?” Wally asked, still chewing on whatever his last snack was.

“Geez, how long were you eavesdropping,” Dick asked, standing up.

Wally frowned. “Eavesdropping on what? I was just talking about something Barbara mentioned the other day.”

“Oh,” Dick said.

“I mean, if even Batman thinks we’re a thing, maybe we are,” Wally continued nervously. “He can be pretty obtuse. Socially, I mean.”

“Wally,” Dick began, sounding tired, and not from the workout, “let’s not do this right now. I can’t do this now, ok?”

“Well when can we do it, Dick?” Wally said, visibly annoyed. “The longer you dodge these questions, the more I feel like you’re just dodging me.”

“I don’t know, Wally, maybe we could wait until we know that Tim isn’t going to die? Or until you’re no longer ‘mourning’ the ‘death’ of your girlfriend,” Dick said, putting a bite on that last word. 

“I’m sorry about Tim,” Wally said, “but you can’t use Artemis as an excuse for this. You know that even if she was here right now, I would still want to have this conversation with you.”

“Do I know that?” Dick asked, obviously irritated.

Wally looked hurt. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that this didn’t seem important to you until Artemis went undercover,” Dick said. “I’m your backup, your plan B, your consolation prize. That’s what I mean.”

“Dick, none of that is true!” Wally exclaimed, closing the distance between them and going to pull Dick into his arms.

But Dick flinched away from him and looked at the ground. “I want to believe that, I really do,” he said, “but I just…”

“You just what?” Wally asked.

Dick cleared his throat. “I need to focus on getting Tim back,” he said, suddenly serious and distant. “I’m going to go find Batman and work out a rescue plan.” He made his way out of the gym, walking slowly even though he knew damn well that if Wally wanted to catch up with him, he would, even if Dick had sprinted from the room.

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Wally was sitting on the mat in the center of the gym, thinking about how Dick had just slipped into 'leader mode' and bailed, when Bart came in.

“Oh!” Bart exclaimed, surprised to see his cousin. “Wally, Wall-man, KF, what’re you—”

“What are you doing in here, Bart?” Wally interrupted, slowly turning his head to look at the younger speedster. “You’re not supposed to be training or working out yet.”

“Ah yeah, well, I wasn’t expecting you—or anyone—to be here,” Bart explained. “I was hoping I’d, um, get away with it?”

Wally sighed, shaking his head. “How’re you feeling, Bart?”

Bart raised his eyebrows. Wally didn’t usual ask him, well, anything, let alone a loaded question like that. “I am a-okay, just chugging along, getting ready to get back to it!” Bart rambled with a grin.

“I can’t see the cuts on your face anymore, so that’s good.” Wally commented, ignoring his cousin’s transparent cheer. “Did the blaster wound leave a mark? You were pretty close to the cannon when he shot it, weren’t you?”

That shattered Bart’s façade. The corner of his eye twitched and his smile fell. His eyes were a bit wider before, but almost glazed over, like he was somewhere else. 

“Bart, are you okay?” Wally jumped up, standing in front of his cousin. “Bart? Bart!”

Bart shook his head, snapping out of whatever trance he had briefly entered. “Y-yeah, sorry, I’m fine,” Bart said quickly. “It didn’t leave a mark, accelerated healing’s nice like that. But you know all about that!”

Wally blinked. Pushing on past Bart’s sudden change in demeanor, he said, “Yeah, I know, but I also know that you still have some scars from the future, so I wasn’t sure if your healing worked the same way as mine does.”

“Oh no, it does, but only when I have my powers,” Bart said, his usual speed and confidence returning to him. “I spent a lot of time wearing an inhibitor collar in the future, so no powers a lot of the time.”

“Right,” Wally said quietly, staring at Bart. “Hey, don’t you have an appointment with M’gann soon? Or Black Canary?”

Bart frowned. “I already talked to them when we got back.”

“Right, but you were exhausted and had just finished being treated for your injuries,” Wally countered. “It can’t hurt to talk to one of them, can it? I’m sure M’gann would appreciate it, at least.”

And Bart was gone already. Wally sighed, shaking his head. _M’gann, I just sent Bart your way,_ he called out telepathically. _I asked him about his blaster-cannon injury and he froze up. I thought maybe you could help? I don’t know what to do for him._

It didn’t take long for M’gann to hear him. _Thanks Wally, I’ll do my best, but I don’t know either._

⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that was a bit of a shorter chapter, and a lot of it wasn't about Bart or Jaime, but I really wanted to write some Birdflash stuff.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I found this chapter mostly written on my computer when I was moving my files to my new laptop. To be completely honest, I don't know if I'm going to continue with this fic, but I figured that it would be rude to not post a chapter that I had already written, so here you go.

“Bart, you can sit down if you want,” M’gann offered from her seat at her desk. She gestured towards her bed, innocently of course, but Bart couldn’t help but picture Superboy, or Lagoon Boy, or both, beating him to a pulp.

So he said, “Uh, okay,” and plopped down onto the fuzzy carpet he had been standing on. 

M’gann, un-phased as usual by Bart’s awkwardness, pressed on. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m okay,” Bart said, too tired to put up his usual front of fake enthusiasm. “My injuries are basically healed now. And no new scars!”

“That’s good,” M’gann said with a soft smile. “How are you doing otherwise? You know, emotionally, mentally, etc.”

Bart’s face fell. “Not so crash,” he said, looking down at his lap. “I think Wally was hoping you could help me with that.”

M’gann nodded before asking, “Would you mind if I looked into your mind? That way I can get a feel for what’s going on without you necessarily having to go through telling me all of it.”

“Yeah, sure,” Bart answered. The idea of someone else in his mind freaked him out a little, but not nearly as much as talking through everything did.

Bart waited awkwardly, wondering if he’d just be sitting here, waiting, until she was done sifting around in his head. 

He was definitely wrong. He felt the exact moment that M’gann reached into his mind, and it was one of the strangest sensations he had ever felt, time travel included. It was like the team’s telepathic link, but multiplied tenfold and just between the two of them. 

‘ _Bart, try to relax, okay?_ M’gann advised telepathically. ‘ _A lot of the things I’m going to look at in here will be traumatic, so you’re not doing either of us any favors by starting off in a tense state of mind._ ’

‘ _Okay,_ Bart said, feeling comforted by M’gann’s voice. ‘ _Can you keep talking to me as you go through stuff in there? _Bart asked, feeling embarrassed.__

__When M’gann said, ‘ _Of course,_ Bart could practically feel the warmth of her smile. _ _

__⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡_ _

__M’gann walked through Bart’s mindscape, cautiously taking in her surroundings. She had never been in a mind like this before. It was similar to Wally’s in the sense that everything was moving at a pretty brisk pace. M’gann found that most mindscapes, if stable, moved at a pace slightly, but noticeably, slower than normal ‘living’ speed. Wally and Bart both had dreamscapes that moved at a speed that could easily pass for ‘living’ speed. What was really unique about Bart’s mind was the clear dividing line that split his mindscape clearly in half. On one side, everything was dark, dismal, cold, and empty. The other side was much, well, healthier._ _

__‘ _Okay Bart, your mindscape—that’s your mind manifested in a world or environment that telepaths can explore—is split into two distinct areas,_ ’ she explained._ _

__‘Is that normal?’ As Bart asked his question, his nervousness flooded through his mindscape in nearly tangible waves._ _

__‘Well, it’s not typical, but I have a feeling it’s a side effect of time traveling,_ M’gann explained. ‘ _This may be your mind’s way of comparing and contrasting your past—or the future—with the time that you’re existing in now. Because you made your trip so recently, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a temporary system.__

_When Bart didn’t say anything else, M’gann went back to exploring. She had concluded that the drastically more dismal side of Bart’s mind was the part reflecting the Reach Apocalypse he had grown up in and left. ‘ _His injury happened here,_ ’ M’gann thought to herself, ‘ _so I’m going to look on the other side.’__

_Bart didn’t have many memories or experiences in this time yet, so it didn’t take M’gann long to find what she was looking for. She found herself on the rooftop, where Bart and Nightwing had been stationed during their last mission, watching as Blue Beetle approached Bart. The sound of Blue’s scythes dragging on the ground filled M’gann’s ears, annoyingly persistent as nails on a chalkboard._

_Suddenly, M’gann was in Bart’s place, watching as Blue approached her. He had a sinister grin as he lifted her chin with one of his blades. M’gann was trained to remain calm in these situations, so she did her best to ignore Blue and to take in her surroundings for other clues about Bart’s trauma. That’s when she noticed something falling from the sky. Had it been snowing on the mission? No, it was ash, falling from a sky that had suddenly gone grey, much like on the other side of Bart’s mindscape._

_Her eyes were drawn back to Blue Beetle when she felt his blade let her chin drop back down. Blue looked different. He was bulkier now, much bigger than Jaime was. He seemed to be speaking, but all M’gann could hear was the sound of blades dragging on concrete, even though that had stopped._

_Blue Beetle sneered at her once before shooting her straight in the gut with his blaster cannon._

_M’gann screamed as the attack violently threw her out of Bart’s mind. She was kneeling on the carpet in the middle of her room, right across from where Bart was sitting. Or where he had been sitting. The speedster was curled up on the ground in a fetal position, his eyes clenched shut._

_“Bart? Bart!” M’gann called, trying to shake him out of it. ‘ _Somebody, help!’_ _

⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡⦺⚡ 

“How bad was it?” 

M’gann had a blanket draped over her shoulders as she sat at the table with Nightwing, Kid Flash, and Zatanna. Nightwing had called a group of some of the team’s veteran members together to discuss the issues surrounding Bart and Blue Beetle. 

“M’gann?” Nightwing prompted gently when his question didn’t register. “How bad was it?” 

“It wasn’t bad overall, it just suddenly turned bad,” she tried to explain. “His mindscape has a strange structure to it; it’s split in half, which I think has to do with his experiences before and after he traveled through time.” 

“That would make sense,” Zatanna commented. She was the only other person in the group who had some sort of a grasp on how mindscapes worked. “But that wouldn’t be a permanent thing, would it?” 

“No, and he hasn’t been here long enough that I’d call it maladjustment yet,” M’gann replied. “That wasn’t where the problem was though. I was sifting through his memories in this time, trying to find what was triggering his emotional trauma, and everything was going normally. I found an event that resembled his encounter with Blue on the rooftop, and that’s when it all fell apart.” 

She pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “I was watching the scene unfold at first, which is normal, but then suddenly I was in Bart’s place. Blue Beetle was coming towards me. And then the two halves of his dreamscape began to blend together. The falling ash and stormy skies from the apocalyptic side of his mindscape bled into the event.” 

“Is that what threw you out of his mind?” Wally asked. 

M’gann shook her head. “No, Blue Beetle shot me, just like he shot Bart on the rooftop, and it jolted me out of his mind. Just like when you die in a dream and wake up.” 

“Well that shouldn’t have happened,” Zatanna said, frowning. “Doesn’t pain in other people’s minds have no effect on a telepathic visitor?”

“That’s how it should be,” M’gann said softly. “And I don’t know if this is my fault or something to do with Bart’s trauma. I haven’t been confident in my abilities ever since the…incident with Kaldur, so maybe that caused it? It could have also been caused by the strange structure of Bart’s mind.” 

“I have a feeling that we’ll figure out what caused it given time.” Nightwing said, looking at M’gann thoughtfully for a moment. “But for now, we have a bit more to work with, so thank you, M’gann.” 

M’gann nodded. “I’ll talk to my uncle about it. Maybe he could try to look into Bart’s mind as well.” She stood up after that, keeping the blanket around her shoulders. “I’m going to go and rest, but someone should go and check on Bart.” 

All eyes fell on Wally, who just sighed, not even surprised at this point. He waited until M'gann had left the room to voice his opinion, because he knew it was going to lead to an argument. 

Dick knew his best friend and he knew that he was about to argue. "Wally, I know Bart's not your favorite person, but could you just go and be there for him? He is your family after all." 

"I don't care about that," Wally said, sounding a little annoyed. "What I do care about is what we're going to do about Blue Beetle. He's obviously on the enemy's side now and he's dangerous. We've seen what he can do to Bart and I'm starting to wonder why we're letting him have the chance to cause any more damage." 

"What are you saying?" Zatanna chimed in. 

"Are you suggesting that we kill him?" Nightwing asked. 

"I'm suggesting that maybe we should consider our options," Wally said carefully. "We need to think of our whole team, not just one team member." 

"Wally, Jaime is still in there somewhere," Nightwing said. "I know that Bart is your cousin and even if he annoys you I know that you care about him. But you can't let that cloud your judgement." 

"This isn't just about Bart!" Wally exclaimed. "What if it had been Tim up on that roof with Blue? I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't be agreeing with me then." 

"Leave Tim out of this," Dick said, his voice sounding dangerously similar to Batman's. 

Wally held up his hands in mock surrender. "Whatever, Dick." 

Zatanna watched with concern as the two best friends, or so she thought, stormed away from each other. 


End file.
